According to The Daily Mirror, Aston Villa have earmarked Reading starlet Michael Olise as a possible signing in this January transfer window.

What's the story?

After their flying start to the Premier League season, Dean Smith's side will no doubt be keen to enjoy as good of a second-half to the campaign as possible, with the possibility of European football even within their sights.

The Daily Mirror now claim that Olise is a transfer target for Villa, and that Smith is keen to add younger players to his first-team squad, and that he will be given the funds to make significant moves this month.

Imagine him and Louie Barry

Hailed as "super talented" by Reading boss Veljko Paunović, the 19-year-old has already earned rave reviews for his ability, with his former manager at the Royals, Jose Gomes, adding: "Michael is really special. He can see, even before receiving the ball, more options than regular players. His technical ability and speed, decision capacity is really, really good."

Given Olise's age, he would fit in superbly well with the kind of young talent Villa have got emerging and knocking on the first-team door at the moment.

The FA Cup defeat to Liverpool last time out saw Villa's kids do the club and entire fan-base proud, with the likes of Louie Barry and Ben Chrisene shining on their first-team debuts.

The £7.2m-rated Olise of course does have a considerable edge over those players in that he's been playing senior football week-in and week-out for a while now, and his performances with Reading this season have been nothing short of outstanding.

He's scored four goals and provided a further eight assists in just 24 games, and could be the latest break-out star from the Championship to really set the Premier League alight. Him and Barry could lead Villa into an incredible future in the years to come.